DHAKA: Bangladesh on Thursday included teenage off-spinner Mehedi Hasan to their One-day International line-up for a three-match series against Sri Lanka, an official said.
The 19-year-old was part of the squad that defeated Sri Lanka at the weekend in Colombo to draw the two-Test series 1-1.
Mehedi and several other Test specialists have returned home since the historic win, which was Bangladesh’s 100th Test since their elevation to full status 17 years ago.
Mehedi has played seven Tests since making his debut against England last year but is yet to feature in a limited-over game.
Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said team management felt an off-spinner would work against Sri Lanka’s left-handed batsmen in the ODI series opener in Dambula on Saturday.
“The composition of the Sri Lanka team suggested that we would need an extra off-spinner in the series,” he said. Mehedi will join the 16-man Bangladesh squad already in Sri Lanka.
The three-match ODI series will be followed by two Twenty20 Internationals next month.
Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Sanjamul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Nurul Hasan and Mehedi Hasan.
Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2017
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